The Business Matrix: Thursday 28 June 2012

Wednesday 27 June 2012 23:00 BST

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No fresh bid for Birds Eye's Iglo

The private-equity firms Blackstone and BC Partners are not
expected to table a fresh bid to buy the Birds Eye owner, Iglo,
from the rival buyout firm Permira after it rejected their €2.5bn
(£2bn) bid earlier this week. Permira is understood to have been
seeking €2.8bn, the largest private-equity buyout this year.

Prudential CEO moves to ABI

Prudential's chief executive Tidjane Thiam is to become the next
chairman of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) from next
Tuesday. Mr Thiam, who earlier this year said the firm might quit
London to avoid new regulations, will take over from Legal &
General's Tim Breedon, who has completed his two-year term of
office.

Land Rover wins award for Evoque

The engineering team behind Land Rover's Range Rover Evoque has
been awarded the UK's premier prize for innovation, the Royal
Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award. Manufacturing at the
Halewood plant is now on a triple shift to meet demand after 70,000
vehicles were sold in the first nine months.

Fortnum & Mason hires new director

Fortnum & Mason, the Queen's grocer, has hired a new retail
director. Tim Fisher, who previously worked at Marks & Spencer,
joined the 305-year-old emporium on London's Piccadilly last month.
The store, which made a profit of £1.1m last year, is also close to
hiring a new chief executive, after Beverley Aspinall left in
May.

Northern Rock lost £110m in 2011

Northern Rock lost £110m in its final year under ownership by
the taxpayer while its buyer Virgin Money made £44m in 2011. Virgin
paid £747m for the "good" part of Northern Rock which had to be
bailed out by the government in 2008. Since the merger, Virgin has
attracted 400,000 new customers.

Retailers to set up price websites

Major electrical retailers such as Dixons, Comet and Argos will
set up a price-comparison website for extended warranties under
measures to placate competition authorities. The OFT's study of the
£1bn per year market highlighted concerns customers are not getting
the best value for money.

Yule Catto expects business to suffer

Yule Catto said it expects its business to be hurt by a volatile
euro and weak nitrile demand in Asia. The warning sent its shares
down 22 per cent. The chemicals company said in March that it
expected sales from emerging markets to offset low growth in
developed ones.

Falcone faces charges in US

US regulators have charged billionaire hedge-fund manager Philip
Falcone and his firm Harbinger Capital Partners with a litany of
illegal actions, including market manipulation and improperly
misappropriating client assets to pay his taxes. He is contesting
the charges.

DM&GT sells Canada Water site

Daily Mail & General Trust has sold its 14-acre Harmsworth
Quays newspaper-printing works site at Canada Water in east
London's Docklands to British Land. The property firm already part
owns the nearby Surrey Quays shopping centre.

Crest Nicholson sales up 33%

Crest Nicholson posted half-year profits of £16m and a 33 per
cent jump in sales. The housebuilder, which operates in the South
East, South West and the Midlands, said its focus on prime
locations and first-time buyers helped revenues.